The Constitutional Court on the Jobs Act: "Reform of dismissals is urgent"

A further continuation of the legislative inertia would not be tolerable and would induce it, if invested again, to provide directly

Fedaisf editorial staff

July 23, 2022

Il nuovo pronunciamento dopo le due sentenze del 2018 e 2020: riformare la disciplina “è indifferibile”. De Palma, Fiom: “Si metta fine al far west aperto da quella legge nel mondo del lavoro”

Collettiva – 22 luglio 2022

The regulation of dismissals contained in the Jobs Act must be reformed as soon as possible. This is the meaning of the pronouncement of the Constitutional Court, in the sentence released today.

In particular, the Consulta writes, it is “indifferibile” the reform of the discipline of layoffs. Si tratta di una “materia di importanza essenziale per la sua connessione con the rights of the worker e per le sue ripercussioni sul sistema economico complessivo”. La Corte rileva che “un’indennità costretta entro l’esiguo divario tra un minimo di tre e un massimo di sei mensilità vanifica l’esigenza di adeguarne l’importo alla specificità di ogni singola vicenda” e non rappresenta un rimedio “congruo e coerente” con i requisiti di “adeguatezza e dissuasività”. Requisiti che furono già affermati in due sentenze, una del 2018 e l’altra del 2020.

“La sentenza della Corte Costituzionale, dopo le due pronunce del 2018 e del 2020, impone di heal the wound determined by far west opened by the Jobs Act in the world of work. In a moment of great economic and social instability, we consider it necessary restore legal certainty per le lavoratrici e i lavoratori e la civiltà giuridica del nostro Paese”. Lo dichiara in una nota Michele DePalma, general secretary of the Fiom Cgil.

“Il Jobs Act – aggiunge – ha cancellato diritti, e contrariamente a quanto affermato da chi lo ha fortemente voluto, non ha favorito l’occupazione. È ora di rispettare the constitutional principles, to reintroduce l’articolo 18 dello Statuto dei lavoratori e di tornare ad applicare la civiltà del lavoro”.

Constitutional Court Sentence 183 of 2022

Note:

For compensation to workers for unfair dismissal, the Court observes that «The limited difference between the minimum and the maximum determined by law gives a preponderant, if not exclusive, importance to the number of employees».

This criterion, "in a framework dominated by the incessant evolution of technology and the transformation of production processes", is not indicative of the effective economic strength of the employer and does not even offer significant elements for determining the amount of the indemnity according to the peculiarities of each individual story.

However, it is up to the discretionary assessment of the legislator to choose the most appropriate solutions to ensure adequate protection. Hence the urgency of a reform, requested by the Court.

The Tribunal of Rome itself anticipates multiple solutions to remedy the profiles in conflict with the Constitution. Solutions ranging from the redefinition of a distinctive criterion, focused on the number of employed, to the elimination of the special regime and the redefinition of the thresholds.

Source Constitutional Court statement

Judgment 2018